A Thousand Twangling Instruments
by stargazercmc
Summary: Cassie, wetworks, clones and numbers.


**Disclaimer:** Not mine. I'd likely whump them all to death.  
**Notes: **Written for the sg1teamficathon. Much, much thanks to beanpot and crazedturkey for the betas. And a lifetime virtual supply of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to moonshayde for the tons of silliness she scrolled past via IM while my brain dribbled this story out. My serious thanks, partner-in-crime.

* * *

_Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises,  
Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.  
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments  
Will hum about mine ears; and sometime voices,  
That if I then had waked after long sleep,  
Will make me sleep again, and then in dreaming  
The clouds methought would open and show riches  
Ready to drop upon me, that when I waked  
I cried to dream again.  
----William Shakespeare, The Tempest 3.2.133_

* * *

**Now**

Cassie leaned forward in the silence of the room and closed her eyes. _Two_. The smell of gun oil was strong and familiar even on the stirring breeze through the open window. The buzzing in her brain sang openly. She held her breath until she heard the click to her right. _Two_.

She didn't let it go until she heard the muted retort of the silencer and the buzzing came to an abrupt halt. _Take that, bitch_, she thought.

"Cassandra, let's go." Cassie opened her eyes to see Sam had already cased the gun. She grabbed Sam's offered hand and the two quickly and quietly made their way down the stairwell to the back alley.

Before Cassie could hit the connecting street, she was already setting her sights on _One_.

* * *

**Then**

With a couple of weeks break between summer and fall terms, Cassie came "home" to visit Sam. The guys planned a barbecue for that weekend – SG-1's last hurrah before Jack moved to Washington, Teal'c joined the Jaffa and Daniel went to Atlantis.

Cassie sat on the porch of and kept an eye on the grill while Sam pulled down dishes from the cabinet. She heard Sam rummage through a drawer before hearing the distinctive pop of a wine cork. The old, familiar sound triggered a sharp longing for Janet, and Cassie remembered days spent begging her mom for "just one sip" that never came. As if reading Cassie's mind, Sam approached her out on the porch, two glasses of Zinfandel in her hand. Cassie took the offered glass as Sam sat down beside her.

"I miss her today," said Cassie. She sipped the small portion slowly and let the unfamiliar tang of the drink roll over her tongue.

"Me too, Cass." Sam put her arm around the back of the swing as it stilled from her sitting down. "I half expect to see her coming out from the kitchen to join us."

Cassie nodded. She remembered all the get-togethers and dinners shared between the three of them, back before she was allowed to sample a glass of wine.

Back when she had let herself believe she might be normal.

Daniel, Teal'c and Jack took that moment to pull into Sam's driveway in Jack's gargantuan truck. Cassie shook away her melancholy and went to greet them. She helped Teal'c grab a cooler full of meat to go on the grill while Jack insisted to Daniel that historical precedent aside, steak had never been properly prepared until Americans got their hands on it.

"Isn't that right, Carter?" Jack called from the yard.

"Yes, sir," she said, tossing him a beer from the porch. She hugged Daniel and handed him a glass of wine just as Cassie and Teal'c made it there with the cooler. Cassie noted with some amusement that Jack made a beeline for the grill and motioned her over for a hug instead of coming to the porch. "Wine, huh?" he said, referring to the glass she held. He smiled and pulled her into his shoulder for a one-armed hug.

"It's all ready for you, sir," said Sam as she passed Teal'c an iced bottle of water.

"_I'll _be the judge of that," Jack said, his eyes lighting up at the sign of gas, slabs of meat and beer.

"Yes, sir, General, sir," was Sam's overly-enthusiastic reply.

Daniel laughed. So did Cassie. She missed her mom, but sometimes family of any stripe was enough to get you by.

* * *

Cassie woke with her heart pounding and the buzzing loud in her head. Covered in sweat, she kicked back the covers and shook off the memory of Nirrti laughing over the body of her decaying mother. As the buzzing began to fade, the dream started drifting away in snatches until all she remembered was its unpleasant effects. She got up, walked to Sam's kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. Opening it with shaky hands, she took a drink and held it up to her flushed cheeks. 

"Cassandra Frasier." She jumped at the sound of Teal'c's voice – she had forgotten he was staying on Sam's couch. "Are you not well?"

"I'm OK, Teal'c," she said. "Just a bad dream."

"I have heard others say that recounting their bad dreams to others often makes them feel better," he said. "Would you care to… talk about it?" Cassie came to sit near the gentle warrior and took another swig of water.

"I don't remember much," she said. "Just…" She dropped her water bottle and grabbed her head as the loud buzzing from her dream overwhelmed her. Vibration screamed in her mind, blocking out any sensation until she felt water pooling beneath her from the overturned bottle. She touched the hardwood floor, desperate to feel anything but the disabling pressure of sound. "Stop stop stop stop stop stop," she keened. Bending over, she kicked the dropped bottle and sloshed water all over the hardwood floor.

Teal'c was already down the hallway, pounding on Sam's door. "Samantha Carter," he said. "Samantha Carter, come right away."

Throbbing. Her head was throbbing. Cassie got up and ran to the porch for air. The buzzing was clear and bright, the only thing she heard as she felt the arid breeze stir her wet bangs. She fell to her knees as the sound intensified. She knew her head would explode any minute, the bomb in her that never went off returning with a vengeance. She tasted copper and threw up. The buzz focused, concentrated directly above her and was now so loud that she had no idea why the neighbors weren't awake.

She looked up to greet the sound, anything to figure out where this was coming from and how to stop it. She was only slightly surprised to see the face hovering above her just before things went dark.

* * *

"Dismissed," said Jack. The members of SG-9 shuffled out of the briefing room, leaving only Daniel, Teal'c and Jack. 

"They should do fine," said Daniel. "I'm sure Teal'c can keep them in line on Dakara while they help break down the weapon."

"Indeed," said Teal'c.

"Where was Carter?" said Jack. "Not like her to miss one of these techy-dohicky briefings, even if she doesn't have to be there."

"She's in the infirmary with Cassie," said Daniel.

"Any change today?" said Jack.

"She's still not awake," said Daniel, "but her vital signs seem to be stabilizing. The doc said it was like something was trying to rewire her brain at first, but everything seems to have evened out."

"I'll feel better once she's conscious," said Jack.

"As will I," said Teal'c. "Cassandra Frasier is… most special." Jack quirked an eyebrow at Teal'c but was interrupted by the sound of chaos in the gateroom.

"Unscheduled offworld activation." Harriman's voice came over the loudspeaker. Jack, Daniel and Teal'c moved down to the control room.

"What've we got, Walter?" said Jack.

"Tok'ra IDC, sir," he responded.

"Well, been a while since we've heard from them," Jack said. "A long while. Open the iris."

"It's audio only, sir." Walter adjusted a switch and a tinny signal burst through a pocket of static.

"This is Delek of the Tok'ra. General O'Neill, are you there?"

"Delek. Long time, no... well, no nothing." He sat down next to Walter. "To what do we owe the pleasure? You never call, you never write." Jack rocked in his chair, tilting back in a most un-General-like manner.

"We have received word of a new threat from the Goa'uld. The System Lords, while scattered, have been industrious."

"When are they not?" muttered Daniel.

Delek continued. "Several of them have invaded Anubis's facilities and have found leftover cloning technology that is allowing them to repopulate quickly."

"Bastards," said Jack.

Daniel smacked him on the shoulder. "Jack, this is serious," he said. "An unlimited supply of human hosts would be so much harder to weed out, especially if there are multiple copies of the same host."

"Exactly," said Delek. "We cannot risk the chance of the System Lords building up their armies again before we have time to recover. This must be stopped."

"Why tell us?" said Jack. "You've made it clear that you don't approve of how we humans handle our ops."

"Because," said Delek. "In this instance, your insight is necessary."

"We only have peripheral knowledge," said Teal'c. "How is our perspective unique from yours?" Teal'c's tone was even, but it was clear he had not forgotten the last meeting between Delek and the Jaffa leadership.

"I believe you once had a doctor there, a Janet Frasier?" said Delek.

Daniel's expression clouded. "Yes?" said Jack. "So?"

"It seems," continued Delek, "she is a leader among the cloned Goa'uld who were sent to Earth."

"She's… What is she, now?" Jack brought his chair upright and stood.

"How is that possible?" said Daniel. "Janet's been gone for over a year now."

Delek said, "One of our spies was able to look at the abandoned cloning facility. In it, he found a diary kept by Nirrti. I'm sure you're familiar with her."

"Oh, we had a passing acquaintance with the rather deceased Nirrti, yes." Jack waved his hands in a circular motion. "Continue," he said.

"Her diary contained many passages about her hatred for the Frasier woman," said Delek. "In particular, she felt disgust for the doctor's constant interference with her experiments," said Delek.

Daniel said, "But what does that have to do with Janet?"

"One of the projects that Nirrti was working on, prior to her demise," said Delek, "was a way to brainwash people close to a target. Once programmed, the subject would take out the target, and the System Lords would never have to get anywhere close."

"No fuss, no muss," said Daniel.

"Actually," said Jack, "it sounds like one of your Zatarain's thingies."

"We think that Nirrti developed the clone technology to create duplicates of people who could get close to subjects who could then be programmed." Delek paused. "Is your Janet Frasier someone who could gain the trust of people close to the SGC?"

"It is possible, O'Neill, that the Goa'uld were somehow able to obtain her DNA," said Teal'c. "If their technology allows for it, cloning a human several times over would be a formidable strategic advantage."

"Especially if the clone was smart enough to pass itself off as being from an alternate universe," said Daniel. "But there can't be that many copies. DNA would only allow for so much replication before degradation sets in. Just like with the Asgard."

"I don't like this at all," said Jack. "I think we need to bring Carter up to speed."

* * *

Cassie heard the soft beeping of monitors before she was able to open her eyes. A wash of confusion and physical ache swept her. As her eyes slowly opened, she saw a flash of blonde hair beside her bed. "Sam?" she said. Her voice was scratchy, and she felt as if her entire body were weighted down. She tried to brush her hair from her eyes and felt the tug of an IV in her arm. 

"Cass, don't try to move just yet. You're in the SGC infirmary." Sam reached to Cassie's forehead and brushed the bangs out of her eyes. "I'll be right back," she said. Sam moved to the infirmary office and brought back over the nurse, who checked her vitals and asked her to slowly move each of her limbs.

Once the nurse was done with her, Sam offered her a cup of water from the nearby pitcher. Cassie let the straw from Sam's proffered cup slip between her lips and she drank. "Not too much," Sam said. "Do you remember what happened?"

_Buzzing_, Cassie thought. She shook her head. "My head was throbbing so bad, and then I threw up," she said. "Did I pass out?"

"We found you on the porch," Sam said. "When you wouldn't wake up, we brought you here."

"How long?" said Cassie. "Was I out, I mean."

"Don't worry about that now," Sam said. "Rest."

Cassie let her eyes drift closed again as Sam fussed around her. Just like Mom used to, she thought.

_Mom. Janet. Oh God._

She bolted upright, a rush of blood making her dizzy. Sam reached for her, tried to hold her still in her sudden movement. "Sam, I saw her. I saw Mom. She was there."

"Cass, lie back," Sam started.

"She was _there_, Sam." The nurse made her way over to the bed and frowned but only checked the IV bag. "When it happened, on the porch. Mom was there." Sam pulled back from Cassie and gently stroked her hair.

"I miss her too, Cass. And we were just talking about her…"

"Sam, she was there with the buzzing," said Cassie.

"Buzzing?" said Sam.

"Carter. We need you to… Cassie?" Jack stopped when he saw her sitting up in the bed. "Good to see you awake. We've been worried about you," he said. He moved over and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Jack, I saw Mom," she said. "Before I passed out. She was there."

Jack turned to Sam. "Have you talked to Daniel? Did he come down here?" Sam looked confused, so Jack turned back to Cassie. "Cass, did Daniel tell you about the message we received?"

"Sir, she just woke up a few minutes ago," said Sam.

"What message?" said Cassie. "Was it Mom? Did she leave me a message?"

Jack took one of Cassie's hands and gently steepled it in both of his. "You should rest," he said. His tone more even, he turned to Sam and said, "I need to talk to you outside for a few minutes." He ruffled Cassie's hair and headed for the outer hallway.

"Think he'll always treat me like a 10-year-old?" said Cassie. Sam didn't answer, distracted by the General's strange behavior. "Sam," said Cassie. "I know that this all sounds crazy, but I did see Mom. I think she was causing the buzzing."

"That's the second time you've brought that up," said Sam. "Can you tell me about it?"

To his credit, Jack only glared a little when Sam finally made it out to the hallway. He quickly brought her up to speed, and by the time he had made it to Janet, Sam's brain was already churning.

"Sir," she said. "I think you need to go back in with me to see Cassie."

* * *

"Best we can tell, sir, Cassie was able to sense when the Janet clone was nearby," said Sam. Daniel sat down on the bed with Cassie. 

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Sense, Carter?"

"Yes, sir," Sam said. "Maybe because of the experiments with…"

"It buzzes," Cassie interrupted. "So loud I can't think. So loud I can't do anything else."

"I believe we should not let these clones get close to Cassandra Frasier again," said Teal'c. "In fact, her limited contact with one of them is troubling."

"Without knowing how the programming works, we can't just assume Cassie has been affected," said Daniel. "I think the fact she was out for a very short time before Teal'c and Sam came outside for her probably lends more credence to her not being affected."

"One thing's for sure," said Jack. "We're going to have to get rid of these damned clones before they try and get close to someone else."

"Sir," said Sam. "I believe, with the help of the Asgard, that we can extrapolate general locations based on planetary scans. Then Cassie can help us track down their exact location once we're physically close enough." Daniel sat back, obviously disturbed by the idea of assigning Cassie this kind of task.

Sam continued, "Who knows what kind of damage the clones are planning? And more to the point, what would she have done with Cassie?" Sam looked over to Cassie and said, "I'd rather have Cassie with us and know she's safe."

"But are we increasing Cassie's risk by bringing her in closer contact with the clones?" said Daniel. "After all, this 'buzzing' may go two ways. What if they can sense her as well?"

"I don't think that's the case," said Sam. "If it were, why was Cassie the only one incapacitated when the first clone came around?"

"Carter, are you honestly prepared to kill something that looks just like Janet Frasier? Prepared to use Cassie to do it?" said Jack. He looked directly at Sam, who stared him back down. The weight of Jack's statement settled in over the group. Cassie looked over each person in the room. She wondered what their reaction would be if the discussion contained one less twice-orphaned college student.

Cassie finally broke the silence, unable to let it stretch further. "It's what we have to do." Her tone was low but determined. Jack's expression gentled, but he said nothing. "You know Mom wouldn't want to be used like this, Jack."

After a few more seconds, Jack nodded. "I'll call Thor."

* * *

_Twelve_. Twelve was the number given to them by the Asgard High Council. Based on Janet's DNA, there were twelve clones on the planet, scattered in various nations throughout the world. The assignment was simple – it would be a wetworks operation with SG-1 at the helm. Jack arranged to go with them, and Cassie wondered if it were more because of the weight of the task at hand rather than the "previous experience" he claimed would be useful. 

The first time out, it was just her and Jack. The five of them were camped out in a small hotel room in Madrid. Daniel was their outside face – he provided them with food, housing and information about the local area. Teal'c and Sam worked on the modified GPS devices provided by the Asgard to narrow the range down to as small a radius as possible. Jack planned scenarios that would accomplish their goal but would minimize contact with any outsiders. And Cassie…

Mostly, Cassie anticipated the buzzing.

Jack snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Cassie, are you paying attention? If I'm going to have you along, you have to know this exit plan. There won't be any room for error once we've started."

"I have it," she said. "From a distance. I stay low. You confirm, then we leave."

"Right," said Jack. He lowered his voice and leaned in close to her. "Are you sure you want to be a part of this, Cass? I'm telling you, bad guys or not, this will not be easy."

She looked at him, eyes bright and burning fierce. "Can you think of any other way?" she said. "Any other way to keep them from destroying the memory of her good name?"

Jack reached over and cuffed her lightly under the chin. "Just when did you go and grow up on me, huh?" He got up and moved over to Sam and Teal'c to check on their progress.

"Is that what this is?" Cassie whispered. _Twelve_.

* * *

It wasn't until _Nine_ that Cassie actually saw one of them. As she and Teal'c were leaving, she stretched up a little too high and caught the sight of it through the entryway. Its hair was matted with blood, and specks of matter were scattered on the wall behind it. _Not Mom, not Mom, not Mom_, she thought. _Not mom_. 

When she got back to the chalet, she gathered her things for the shower and headed into the bathroom. She made it three steps in before having to drop everything to upend the contents of her stomach. Afterwards, she ran the water extra hot and climbed under the spray. She stayed there, shivering, for almost an hour.

* * *

_Five_. Cassie could hear the strained voices standing outside the hotel room door. "You can't honestly think it's that simple, Jack." 

"Daniel, there's nothing simple about this," said Jack. "But it's all we have."

"O'Neill, Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c. "I believe it best that we continue this… discussion another time." Taking her cue, Cassie slid her key in the door and went inside. She took off her jacket and tossed it on one of the double beds.

"Sam's right behind me," she said before they could ask. "She wanted a second outside." Jack nodded. Out of all of them, Sam was the one who never got accustomed to what they were doing. Sometimes one of the guys would talk with her, try and give Sam a vent for her guilt and anger at the situation. But not tonight. Cassie thought they were bearing their crosses alone more often these days.

"We saved you some dinner, Cass," said Daniel. "It's in the microwave. They're both the same." Cassie went to the microwave and pulled out one of two styrofoam containers. Grabbing a set of plasticware, she sat down at the small table and opened the container. The homey smell of chicken and rice was out of place in this sterile-looking room, but the buzzing usually left her wiped and she needed the carbs. She added pepper with the provided packet and shoveled down several forkfuls of food before looking back up.

Strength would bring her to One.

* * *

**Now**

_One_, thought Cassie. _One_.

"Sam, can we stop and get something to eat?" Cassie stumbled on a sidewalk crack but caught herself before falling. "I'm not sure if I can make it all the way back to the hotel."

They stopped at an all-night diner. Cassie left Sam at the booth to order and slipped into the women's restroom. She leaned against one of the sinks and looked up. Wetting a paper towel, she wiped the thin sheen of sweat from her face. She still felt green, so she cupped her hands under the running water and splashed it up to her face. She damped off her face and saw some color return.

A bathroom stall opened behind her. A wall of nausea slammed into her as the buzzing returned full force. She hadn't felt anything this strong since the first night at Sam's house. The buzzing pounded through her head like anger, swift and brutal with its consistency. "Mom," she said weakly. She grabbed on to the sink's edge trying to stay up. Knowing her best chance was to make it to Sam, Cassie walked her arms over as far as the bathroom door before she fell to the ground. The steady buzz in her head was accentuated by the heartbeat of her last conscious thought – _One, one, one, one_.

* * *

**Between**

Sam walked into the infirmary and over to a bed. She reached out and pushed back Cassie's hair. It had gotten so long in the past year, and Sam wondered how long it would be allowed to grow before someone was brought in to cut it.

"I know. She really needs a haircut." Janet Frasier came up beside Sam and touched her arm.

"How is she today?" said Sam.

"No change," said Janet. "I can't find any reason why she won't wake up. I've checked everything we've seen before with Nirrti, but Sam, a week? With Nirrti dead…" Janet broke off, her voice choking.

"Jack, Teal'c and Daniel will be back from the planet soon, and I'm sure they'll find some clue there," said Sam. "And maybe Eggar or Wodan will come back to help."

A rustling to their left stopped them both. Cassie was stirring. Janet called for a nurse immediately and began to check Cassie's vital signs. Sam stood back out of the way and watched the team work. Cassie tried to say something, and Janet leaned in close to her daughter. She stood back up and said, "You're going to be fine, honey."

As the nurse began asking Cassie to move her limbs, Janet walked over to Sam. "Thank God," said Janet. "I don't know what caused this, but it has to be easier to fight when she's conscious."

"What did she say?" said Sam. "Did she give you any clue about what happened to her?"

"No," said Janet. "Nothing like that."

"Then what _did_ she say?" said Sam. Janet's brow furrowed.

"She said, 'You're one.'"


End file.
